China speaks out on telco exclusion

Date: April 11 2012

Katharine Murphy

CHINA has grabbed the opportunity of a visit by its Commerce Minister, Chen Deming, to raise concerns about the Gillard government's decision to block one of its emerging telco giants from the national broadband network build.

Chinese officials had already telegraphed their irritation about Huawei being blocked from the build on national interest grounds - but Mr Chen's visit has provided the first opportunity to flag the objections at the political level.

The Commerce Minister also met Treasurer Wayne Swan and spoke with Prime Minister Julia Gillard at a lunch in Parliament House. Mr Swan intends to visit China in July.

Mr Swan's spokesman said later that the two men had a positive meeting.

The official Chinese news service Xinhua carried a report yesterday of discussions between Mr Chen and Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese that yielded a memorandum of understanding on future infrastructure investment.

Huawei was banned from the NBN build following advice from Australia's security and intelligence agencies. The company denies any wrongdoing.

But Huawei is also facing a tough political audience in the United States, where it is the subject of inquiries concerning China and economic espionage.

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